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Institute of Geography

Photo: Moana Van Der Maesen

Project: Nuclear Justice

Project: Nuclear Justice and Gender in the Sea of Islands

AG Fladvad

University of Hamburg – Institute of Geography
Research Project 2024 - 2027

Te Parau Tià i mua i te Parau o te âtomī e te Parau o te Taata, no te Moana e-tuiau-i-te mau Motu

Justice nucléaire et genre dans la mer d'Îles


Since 1945, over 2,000 nuclear explosions have been conducted by nuclear-armed states, often in regions under colonial occupation considered to be remote. These nuclear explosions have left long-lasting radioactive contamination of the land, groundwater, sea, air and people. The Sea of Islands (Epeli Hauʻofa), the Pacific Islands region, where people live on islands and are connected by their common environment, was particularly affected. M̧ajeļ/Marshall Islands (1947 - 1958), in Kiribati (1957 - 1962), and Māòhi Nui/French-occupied Polynesia (1966 - 1996), together were bombed 300 times during atmospheric and underground nuclear explosions conducted respectively by the United States of America, the United Kingdom and France. These explosions have had dramatic environmental and humanitarian impacts, including severe and intergenerational health issues especially for women and children. Affected communities are still dealing with this nuclear legacy and their claims for justice have still not been adequately addressed. Such calls for justice are echoed today in relation to climate change and its socio-ecological impacts on communities that have contributed the least to it. The existential threat that climate change is posing to their homes, health, ways of life, livelihoods and culture is further reactivating risks of nuclear contamination

Ta'ero 'Ātomī (Moana Van Der Maesen)

Ta'ero 'Ātomī (Moana Van Der Maesen)

Our mission

To work with and for affected communities,
survivors of nuclear weapons in the Sea of
Islands in order to identify:

  • The socio-ecological impacts of nuclear
    weapons and their interaction with climate
    changes through a gender lens;
  • Local and international strategies of
    resistance, resilience, and survival; and
  • Gender-transformative pathways towards
    climate and nuclear justice.
Our approach
  • Conduct socio-ecological research on gender
    relations and nuclear justice in the climate
    crisis context;
  • Use participatory research methods with
    affected communities;
  • Establish partnerships with the Sea of
    Islands’ academic institutions and civil
    society; and
  • Develop policy recommendations for
    gender-transformative measures addressing
    (post-)colonial dependencies and
    discrimination